I agree with Rudi - the key identifier was the maintenance.
I know many disagree and say it was all a big conspiracy and Ansett were unfairly targeted, and perhaps they were, but all the same, if they had done the maintenance, and had the paperwork right, they couldn't have got in to trouble no matter who didn't like them.
I loved travelling Ansett, especially international, their service staff and pilots and everyone you came in contact with were great. But, when it came to the back-room orgainising level, I found them to be basically hopeless.
That said, I didn't predict their tragic demise, even though others on this board were prior to September 2001.